Bath



G. E. COWLEY ian. 2s, 1969 BATH Sheet Filed March 23, 1966 G. E. COWLEY Jan. 28, 1969 BATH Filed March 2s, 196e Sheet FG L FIGS

Jan. 2s, 1969 G'. E. Ccm/ LEY 3,423,769

BATH

Filed March 23, 1966 Sheet 3 of 5 299 y '3o 2s [lill/111111111111111: l

United States Patent O 19,278/ 65 U.S. Cl. 4-173 11 Claims Int. Cl. A47k 3/022;F16j15/46 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bath tub especially for infirm persons including a door in one side with a watertight seal between the door and the opening therefor, an integral seat portion with runners whereby a person can be wheeledon a trolley into the bath.

This invention concerns baths.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a bath for use by elderly or handicapped persons.

According to the present invention a bath is characterised in that there is provided in the side of the bath an opening whereby a user can easily step into the bath and a door which is capable of being closed to provide a watertight seal.

The invention will be 4described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational of one form of bath made in accordance with the invention, parts being omitted for clarity.

FIG. 2 is an end elevational in the direction of the arrow A of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a plan view,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged part lsectional detail view of part ofthe bath of FIGS. 1 to 3,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of Va modified form of bath FIG. 6 is a plan view of a further modification FIG. 7 is `a p-art sectional view of a further modification and FIG. 8 is a similar view of a still further modification.

Like reference numerals will be used for like parts in the drawings.

A bath made in accordance with one form of the invention and as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 is formed from any of the presently used materials and includes an integral seat portion 10 in the base of the bath.

In baths of this type the user may sit on the seat 10 with his or her legs extending into an adjacent and deeper portion 11 of the bath. As can be seen the bath is rectangular in plan view and the integral seat 10 is formed therein by reducing the depth of the bath at one end region. Frame members 12 (see particularly FIGS. l and 2) are provided below the reduced depth portion of the bath to ensure that the bath will stand firmly on a fiat surface. If, desired and as shown, these frame members are connected to base runners 13 so that the bath stands on these -as opposed to resting on the formed portion of the base frame members 12 per se. The bath being described is conveniently `moulded from fiberglass. One side 14 of the bath is provided with an opening 15 which extends from the upper edge 16 offthe bath to a position adjacent to the base of the deeper portion 11 of the bath. The opening is formed in a thickened region of the side 14 and is provided with an undercut groove 17 formed around its perimeter. Within the undercut portion of the groove is provided a sealing ring 18 which is of hollow form which is capable of being inflated and deflated by means of for example, a bicycle or other type of air pump 19 which latter is connected to the sealing ring 18 by a tube 20. On the side of the groove 17 opposite to the undercut portion is provided a second sealing ring 21 which may be resilient and non-inflatable or may be inatable.

Adapted to be seating in the opening is a door 22 (see FIG. 4) whose thickness is just less than the thickness of the groove, so that the door 22 may be easily slid into the groove 17 to close the opening in the side 14 of the bath. When the door 22 is in position the sealing ring 18 located in the undercut is inated by the pump 19 to provide a watertight seal between the door 22 and the opening.

The usual drain hole 23 and tap fitting -apertures 24 are provided respectively in the base of the bath and an outwardly extending flange 25 at the upper extremity of the bath.

The invention is not restricted to the above details. For example, as shown in FIG. 5 the bath may be modified by providing the door in the wall of the bath opposite to the seat 10. In a further modification the sealing ring may be secured on the door 22 instead of in the undercut portion of the groove and it is envisaged that a hinged door may be provided as an alternative to the vertically sliding door referred to.

In a further modification the sealing ring is noninflat-able and again may either be fixed to the door or within the groove.

In a still further modification as shown in FIG. 6 a horizontally sliding door may be provided. In this case one side of the opening of the bath would be provided with a box-like aperture 26 into which the door 22 can slide. Around the edge of this box-like aperture 26 and adjacent the edge of the door opening is provided 'a seal 18 of either the inflatable or noninatable type.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the baths of the kind in which the form is such that an integral seat 10 is provided. The invention s `of `course equally applicable to baths in which a removable seat (not shown) is provided or baths of the more generally known type having a substantially fiat base. It is also envisaged that it may be possible or desirable to provide two separate and adjacent sealing means 18 on either the door or the groove, these sealing means 18 again being either inflatable `or non-fiatable and being located in sideby-side disposition.

The principal advantage of the bath ydescribed above lies in the fact that an aged `or handicapped person, can, by opening the door of the bath, easily step into the bath and thereafter close the door and seal it so that the need for assistance when getting into and out of the bath is eliminated.

As an added precaution it may be advantageous to provide a drip tray 27 (shown in chain line in FIG. 1) below the aperture in the bath wall. This drip tray could either be fixed in position and provided with an outlet leading to the normal outlet from the bath, or it could be removable.

Two further modifications are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

As can be seen in FIG. 7 there is provided a bath which has a substantially flat base 28 and one open end 29. At the end of the bath adjacent the open end 29 are provided, alongside each side of the bath, runners 29a (one only of which can be seen) having end stops 30. This bath shown is provided with a sliding door 31 and the end of the bath is provided with an inilatable seal of the kind referred to above. The bath stands on a base 32 of, for example, two feet in height. At the end of the bath remote from the door provision is made for tap connections and drain connections. This bath is specifically provided to be used in cases in which a person cannot step into and consequently a trolley 33 is provided with runners 34 adapted to receive a Wheeled seat 3S.

A similar arrangement is shown in FIG. 8 but in this case the bath has an `open side provided with inflatable seal 36 and the base of the bath is at two levels, the upper level 37 is provided with transverse runners 38 to receive a Wheeled seat. In this case the arrangement enables a person to be placed in the bath in a sitting position. As in the bath of FIG. 7 a sliding door is provided.

Either of the tbaths just described may be provided with hinged doors.

In use, a person seated on the wheeled seat 35 can be placed in the bath by locating the trolley 34 in such a position that the wheeled seat 35 can be pushed onto the runners 29 or 38 and the bath closed.

'It should be apreciated that the drawings do not show any facing for the sides of the bath, such a facing would of course be provided to hide the pump and the tap connections and to give `an attractive appearance to the bath. It should also be appreciated that the 'bath can be permanently connected to a source of water and a drain or can be wheeled and provided with exible supply and drain connections adapted to be removably attached to supply and drain facilities.

What is claimed is:

1. A bath structure comprising a base, a bath of substantial depth mounted on said ibase, at least one opening in `a side of said bath of sucient size to enable a user to step into or to be placed into said bath therethrough, a door for closing said opening, and a watertight seal between said door and said opening, and undercut groove surrounding said opening, said seal comprising an inflatable ring in said groove, said ring entirely within said groove when deated, said ring projecting out of said groove when inflated, whereby abrasion of said ring is avoided when door is moved.

2. A bath as claimed in claim 1 in which the opening is substantially the same size as the side of the lbath, there being within the bath an integral seat portion provided with spaced apart runners extending across the bath from the open side whereby a person can be wheeled on a trolley into the bath, the opening being provided with a seal to provide a. watertight joint with a door adapted to lbe located in the opening.

3. A bath as claimed in claim 2 in which there are provided frame members on the underside of the seat the lower extremity of the frame members terminating in the plane of the lower extremity of the base of the bath.

4. A bath as claimed in claim 3 in which bath runners extend below the bath from the frame members to the opposite side of the tbath.

5. A bath as claimed in claim 1 in which the opening is in one end, the base of the bath being substantially at and provided, adjacent the opening, with spaced apart runners adapted to receive a trolley upon which a person can be seated, and having sealing means around the periphery of the opening adapted to provide the water tight joint with a door, said door located in the opening.

6. A bath according to claim 1 wherein said door is a sliding door, said door adapted to slide into a boxlike aperture in the bath side.

7. A bath as claimed in claim 1 in which the peripheral seal around the opening comprises two juxtaposed inilatable tubes and two corresponding non-inflatable members.

8. A bath according to claim 1 in which there are two sealing members between said door land said bath, one on each side of said door, at least one of said members being in the form of an inatable tube.

9. A bath as claimed in claim 8 in which the inatable tube is located in the undercut portion of an undercut groove formed around the periphery of the opening.

10. A bath as claimed in claim 8 in which the inflatable tube is connected to an air pump.

11. A bath as claimed in claim 8 in which in addition to the inflatable tube there is provided `a non-inflatable seal member adapted to bear against the opposite side of a door (when in position) to that against which the inatable tube bears.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,306,934 12/1942 Cade 4-173 2,456,275 12/1948 Harris 4-173 2,804,629 9/1957 Ring 4-173 2,991,482 7/1961 Brass 4--173 3,010,116 11/1961 Cowley 4-173 X 3,050,791 8/1962 TreXler 49-477 X 3,100,918 8/1963 Coverley 49-477 SAMUEL ROTHBERG, Primary Examiner.

H. J. GROSS, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

